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September 21st, 2015

For most of us, the name of Scotland Yard is synonymous with detective stories. Whether it is Sherlock Holmes, the books of Agatha Christie or Edgar Wallace, or even the exploits of Jack the Ripper, the involvement of Scotland Yard roots these stories, often elevating the institution to mythical heights. Its involvement lends credence to the powers of traditional law enforcement.

The Yard has long been part of my Jason Dark supernatural mysteries in a variety of ways, not in the least through the fact that Inspector Lestrade calls upon Jason Dark and Siu Lin on occasion. Since the cases of the ghost hunters involve killings and deaths, it is only natural that the two occult detectives have a lot of contact with Scotland Yard.

At one point I began to wonder what would happen if the powers of the Yard would were to realize Jason Dark’s skills and acknowledge his legitimacy. An idea evolved in my mind that, perhaps, they would offer him a job. More to the point, perhaps, would they even open a department for the special kinds of cases he is regularly involved in?

Traditionally, Scotland Yard worked in Divisions. Greater London was divided into a number of sections that had a degree of autonomy under the Scotland Yard umbrella. In history, H Division became the most notorious one, no doubt. It covered London’s East End, and among it the Whitechapel district, the part of town with the largest crime rate and, of course, the killing grounds of the infamous Jack the Ripper. Other letters of the alphabet were assigned to other parts of the city. Interestingly, what many people do not know is that the City of London itself, which makes up only the very heart of what we typically consider London as a whole to be, had its very own police force and was not part of Scotland Yard’s jurisdiction.

While this divisionalization had its benefits, particularly as the city continued to grow, it also had its limitations, of course. To counter the shortcomings that arose from the many disjointed divisions, another department was founded, commonly known as CID, the Criminal Investigation Department. Without the jurisdictional limitations of separate divisions, CID operated independently and quickly took charge of cases surrounding murders and rapes. It is this division, in fact, that we usually associate with the name Scotland Yard. It consisted of detectives in plainclothes, often working undercover in disguise as they investigated the most notorious and brutal of cases in the Greater London area.

With all that in mind, I began to imagine the possibilities. What if Scotland Yard would indeed open a department dedicated to supernatural incidents? I foreshadowed the idea in a previous Jason Dark mystery also, “Curse of Kali,” and in the latest adventure, “Hunted,” I took that leap all the way and made it official. In the story you will find a scene in which Dark and Siu Lin are approached with the concept, as proposed by the Home Secretary and the Queen herself.

Like many of the historic references and character cameos I have constantly built into the series over its course, this once again added a nice touch to the story, I felt, expanding the horizon of Jason Dark’s world and the possibilities for me to play with the characters and settings. He would no longer be a civilian, scrutinized suspiciously by policemen on the beat. He would no longer be the prime suspect as people fall dead along his path, and he would suddenly have an entire police force at his disposal to help him solve cases. Not that I would want him to be regular copper, of course. Far from it. He is just not the type, but as you may agree, it would open up certain new thematic possibilities, not to mention the drama that would undoubtedly unfold if he were suddenly accountable to Queen Victoria herself. What is his relationship with the Queen, anyway?

Check out “Hunted” to find out how Jason Dark reacts to the Yard’s offer, though. It may be good for a few chuckles along the way as he improvises in critical moments. Naturally, the story as a whole is probably more interesting than that small tidbit alone, but it is like a proper spice. It adds dimension without getting in the way.

Therefore I would like to invite you to check out “Hunted” and get a taste of Jason Dark dealing with an exotic hopping vampire from China in an action-packed mystery that takes every last ounce of resourcefulness out of Dark and Siu Lin. The book has just been released and is now available for a limited time only for $0.99.